370 



Bird - Lore 



Black Tern at Martha's Vineyard, 

 Mass. 



There was quite a remarkable flight of 

 this species September 6 and 7, 191 2. My 

 observations were made on the east coast 

 between East Chop and Katama Bay. 

 About two hundred individuals were 

 seen each day. They were mostly juvenile 

 birds, only one black-breasted adult being 

 noticed, and this one kindly flew about 

 eight feet above and directly over my 

 blind. The blackish spot near eye and 

 the grayish sides of breast were noticeable 

 when the young birds were flying near, 

 and their flight was zig-zag and irregular 

 at times, reminding one of the flight of the 

 Night Hawk. While these birds flew 

 over the ocean beach and water consider- 

 ably, they seemed to prefer the fresh 

 ponds and salt lagoons. The Common 

 Tern was plentiful at the same point, but 

 spent more time over or near the ocean. 

 I remained at the beach two weeks, but 

 observed the Black Terns only on the two 

 days mentioned. A northeast storm 

 preceded their appearance by a day or 

 two. Possibly after leaving the sloughs 

 of the Canadian prairie country, these birds 

 followed the Great Lakes and the St. 

 Lawrence River to the sea, and the storm 

 drove them down the coast in numbers. 



The Black Tern occurs along this coast 

 at times during the fall migration; but I 

 have never observed it in such numbers 

 before, although I have spent many weeks 

 on the island since 1895. — Charles L. 

 Phillips, Tauntofi, Mass. 



Hooded Warbler in Boston 



On Thursday, October 2, 1913, shortly 

 after 12 o'clock, I was searching a silver 

 maple in the Public Garden, Boston, 

 to ascertain whether there was anything 

 there besides BlackpoU and Myrtle 

 Warblers, which seemed very numerous. 

 Suddenly, I heard a little song, just a few 

 notes, but very clear, sweet, and sprightly, 

 especially for this season of the year. I 

 started, for I knew I had never heard that 

 song before! Looking quickly in the 



direction whence it came, I saw a beauti- 

 ful little bird with outspread tail flutter- 

 ing in the air in front of a low branch of 

 the tree which I had been examining. 

 .\lmost immediately he was hidden 

 behind the leaves, but so incessant was 

 his motion, as he hopped about among the 

 lower branches, that I caught sight only of 

 bits of him here and there as he momen- 

 tarily came into view, only to vanish 

 again, and again to reappear. My first 

 thought, on seeing an olive back and yel- 

 low breast with a touch of black some- 

 where about the head, was of a Maryland 

 Yellow-throat; but, no, this bird had a 

 black throat, and bright yellow cheeks — 

 much more yellow than its underparts, 

 although those were by no means dull. 

 Neither could it be a Black-throated 

 Green Warbler, for it was yellow, not 

 white, underneath, and the black throat, 

 instead of parting in the middle like little 

 curtains, was rounded like a bib. Again, 

 there was a jet-black cap, set jauntily on 

 the back of his head, and, extending to the 

 nape of his neck. There were no wing- 

 bars, and no streaks on breast or sides. 



I had got as far as this in my study of 

 the elusive beauty when I saw an ac- 

 quaintance approaching who is a fellow- 

 enthusiast. I beckoned to her to hasten, 

 but lost my bird! We scanned every 

 branch of the trees in the vicinity, but 

 could see nothing of him, until, just 

 before I left the Garden, I discovered him 

 on a silver maple very near the one on 

 which I had first seen him, but my com- 

 panion was not close at hand, and, in 

 trying to call her, I lost the bird again. 



On my return to my office, I searched 

 for my bird in Nuttal's 'Birds of the 

 United States and Canada,' and, although 

 no picture is given, I came to the conclu- 

 sion that I had seen a Hooded Warbler. 

 I could hardly wait until I got home at 

 night to consult Reed's 'Bird Guide,' and 

 there, on page 175, I found a perfect pic- 

 ture of the bird, as I remembered him. 



The ne.xt morning I went into the Gar- 

 den early before going to business, and 

 saw my bird again on the same tree on 

 which I had last seen him the day before. 



